Cartons are often used as packaging for a variety of consumer products. The carton may be configured for opening by the consumer for removal of the contents from the interior thereof. The marketing, distribution and sale of contents packaged in cartons for consumers often requires considerable attention to the design of the cartons used to package such products. In particular, it is generally desirable to design such cartons with a feature that permits the purchaser to open the carton with a minimal amount of physical effort to gain access to the contents.
One type of carton is provided with a pair of overlapping flaps or panels on one end that are attached relative to each other. Often, the overlapping panels are merely glued together, requiring the consumer to break the glue bonding the two overlapping panels to gain access to the interior of the carton. Considerable effort may be required by the consumer to break the adhesive bonding between the panels, and can result in uncontrolled tears in the carton. To address these concerns, some cartons have been provided with a tear strip between the overlapping panels, allowing a consumer to remove the tear strip to allow the panels to separate in order to gain access to the interior of the carton.
Other types of cartons use opening features comprising a perforated region formed in the carton that is intended to be openable by pressing a thumb or finger against the perforated region of the carton. Perforated regions for opening cartons may be located at various parts of the carton, such as upper portions of a side panel or on the top panel of the carton. After opening of the perforated regions, such regions may be designed to remain connected to the carton wall by a hinge so that the perforated region is not detached from the carton.
Many such opening features in the form of perforated regions are found in existing carton designs for paperboard cartons. The perforated regions may be bordered by a series of perforations, reverse cuts, score lines, or cut lines in the surface of a carton wall in the shape of a “V”, a “U”, an oval, a rectangle or other shapes. The carton is opened by pressing the perforated region toward the interior of the carton so that the carton wall ruptures or tears along the perforations to form an opening allowing access to the interior of the carton.
However, these regions often require considerable opening force because the perforations may not fully penetrate the panel and may not be of sufficient size to permit easy opening of the carton. The force required to open perforated regions in many instances can cause the carton panels to deform, bend or even collapse, and can render the perforated region itself inoperable. These types of opening problems can lead to consumer frustration and complaints, which can result in lost sales and increased costs for returned goods.
The open perforated region may be configured to act as a finger grip that allow the user to create a larger opening in the carton. In such cartons, the perforated region can first be depressed into the interior of the carton by the consumer. Next, the consumer can pull on the perforated region, such as toward a side or top of the carton, to peel back a panel of the carton and to create an enlarged opening permitting improved access to the contents of the carton. In some cartons, the carton side or top panel may be removed entirely.
The use of a perforated region as described above to provide an opening for further opening the carton may be employed in cartons for bulk products such as pastas, cereals and similar food stuffs. Often sauce packets or other flavoring packets are provided with the bulky, pourable products. The removal of such packets can be difficult when the bulk contents shift during shipping and handling prior to opening by a consumer. When a consumer finally opens the carton, the bulk contents and the packets may have shifted in a manner to cause difficulty in removing the bulk contents and the packets from the interior of the carton. In some instances, the packets can even block the openings of the carton, further causing difficulty in removing the bulk contents.
The design of carton opening features requires consideration of a number of objectives and performance requirements in addition to providing for convenient opening of the carton by a consumer. The easy open features in such cartons should not compromise the structural integrity and strength of the carton. Paperboard cartons often are subjected to a variety of loads and stress during shipping, storage, and handling of the cartons. These include stresses and loads experienced during the packing of individual cartons in shipping cases, in palletizing the cases for storage at warehouse facilities, and during shipment, stacking, and other movement of pallets. Once the cartons reach a retailer, they may be subjected to additional stresses and loads during the shelving and display of the product. Consumers purchasing such cartons may further subject the cartons to stresses and loads that can cause unintentional openings or deformation of the carton.
Cartons are typically made from a precut, unitary blank having prescored lines that permit the folding, forming, filling and sealing of the cartons using automated machinery. For many such cartons, an easy open design must be integrated into the overall carton structure with a minimum of complicated or added components. For example, the easy open features in paperboard cartons frequently must be integral to a unitary paperboard blank used to form the carton to simplify assembly of the carton and reduce material and assembly costs. It is desirable to avoid the need for unnecessary panels, folds, glues, inserts, reinforcements or the like to form the easy open feature to reduce the cost of the carton and the steps needed to form the carton.
Thus, there remains a need to provide cartons capable of inexpensive mass production and suitable for retail sale having an opening feature configured for simplified access to the interior of the carton after packing, shipping, and handling of the carton.